Some people would struggle to be standing after two or three glasses of wine, but Gerard Depardieu drinks fourteen bottles of wine a day, and claims to be in perfect health. The French star, who made headlines last year when he decamped to Russia after some tax-related arguments with the French government, admits in a recent interview that he tallied his alcohol consumption at the behest of his doctors, who reportedly performed heart-bypass surgery on the actor in 2000, and came to this conclusion: “I can drink 12, 13, 14 bottles a day.” Depardieu alleges that he goes through occasional bouts of sobriety—but between those, his alcohol intake surges, mostly out of boredom. “In the morning, it starts at home with champagne or red wine before 10 A.M., then again champagne.” Gerard said he breaks up the wine with aniseed liqueur pastis—“maybe half a bottle.” He added: “Then food, accompanied by two bottles of wine. In the afternoon, champagne, beer and more pastis at around 5pm, to finish off the bottle. Later on, vodka and/or whisky.” But fear not, he is “never totally drunk, just a little pissed.” And he even has a sober-up tool: “All you need is a 10-minute nap and voila, a slurp of rose wine and I feel as fresh as a daisy.”
Somewhat bizarrely, the actor also says “there’s more to life than being drunk.” Killing lions, for example. Depardieu shot two lions while in Africa “in legitimate self-defence,” he claims. “I killed two lions once, and I understand why the lion is the king of the jungle. Imagine you’re driving and your engine breaks down. You got out, and in your way are these animals. So you shoot, just to scare them. They don’t move. I wasn’t there for hunting. I was in Africa for Africa.” The actor also admits he can have a bit of a temper. “It’s in my nature, bold and expansive, particularly at that time,” he said. “When you’re full of life, it can have a positive effect – like offering someone 1,000 roses. That can be good – or it can be bad, like bashing an ashtray on a cop’s head because he refuses to drink the champagne you’re offering him. But usually I’m never the one who starts the fight.”
